When I was eight, I sneaked out of my bedroom in the middle of the night to raid the palace's wine cellar. There, I caught my mum shagging the butler. I've seen horses mate before so I had a fair understanding of what was happening before my young virgin eyes.

Although I thought his... appendage was quite small compared to a horse's.

As quietly as I could, I tried to leave, but my mum had seen me. She'd clamped her hand between my cheeks and told me that if I told anyone of her indiscretion, she would kill my dog.

I was terrified and she must have seen that on my face because she started laughing and warned me that if there was one thing permanent in my pointless, wretched, pampered life, it was death. Death would come for me as it would come for everyone I loved.

She was right.

Death introduced itself to the Royal Family when my eldest brother Robert died in war. I thought Death would move on to its next victim and leave us alone for a while.

It married itself to my family instead.

My dad, the King of England, disenchanted of what the crown has brought to our family and the nation, had decided to ask Parliament for a referendum to abolish the monarchy. The night before he was to sign the referendum, he was murdered. Shot in cold blood.

One would think Death had gotten its pound of flesh after that.

It only got hungrier. Thirstier.

I could pretend that it wasn't there, even forget it sometimes. But every now and then, like an errant spoiled child, Death demanded the acknowledgment of its existence. Sadistic and evil, it whispered its malevolence in unexpected moments.

I felt its presence before it showed itself, its pale icy fingers caressing my neck before it grabbed me in a chokehold.

It whispered Liam's name in my ear.

I shivered with foreboding as I watched Jasper, with his calm but alert eyes so focused on Liam, pull out his gun and aim it at my brother. There was a second where my brain rejected what I was seeing before I realized what Jasper was about to do.

"No!" I screamed. "Liam! Run!"

Helpless, I whipped my gaze to Liam's direction, but something to his right caught my attention. There was a man in a nondescript dark jacket pointing a gun at Liam. Before the man could fire it, a gunshot reverberated in the room. The man slumped with force against the wall, his gun clattering to the floor.

Jasper had shot him.

Pandemonium broke. Terrorized screams filled the room as people started to brutally shove at each other to get to the exit. But I just stood there, like a deer caught in headlights, watching the scene unfurl before me.

The man recovered quickly, holding his arm protectively as he disappeared into the crowd.

There was a severe calmness in Jasper's face as he moved into action, as if he had done this a thousand times before. His eyes shifted to mine and the blankness disappeared, replaced by an intense emotion that flickered so fast I wasn't sure what it was. And then he turned and ran after the killer.

Jasper wasn't trying to kill Liam. He was trying to save him. Liam was safe.

"Eleanor, let's go!" Ophelia grabbed my arm, pulling at me. Among the panicked crowd, I spotted my security detail struggle their way to get to us.

I looked at Ophelia, feeling the determination and adrenaline pumping in my veins. "You go. I have to find Jasper."

"No! Len!"

But I was already running, pushing people out of my way. I looked behind me and noticed two of my security detail were in hard pursuit of me.

I had no idea what had taken over me, but I desperately wanted to find this man who tried to kill Liam. Maybe he knew something about my dad's death. Maybe he was the one who killed my dad... I had to get to him.

I took off my jacket, flinging it to the ground. Unapologetic, I snatched a yellow cap from someone's head in the crowd—I heard someone yell, what the f uck?— and casually put it on. It was a pathetic attempt at disguise but it would have to do for now.

I was out of breath by the time I emerged from the building. Where the bloody hell was Jasper?

I looked to my left and right—people were every-f ucking-where. The crowd parted for a second and gave me an uninterrupted view of the street below. Jackpot! I saw Jasper enter an alley, disappearing out of my sight. I set off at a dead run, throwing a look behind me to check if I was still being followed. There was no one there, but I had this nagging tingle at the back of my neck as though someone was watching me.

The alley was narrow and dark that even sunlight was afraid to enter it. It stank of old urine, rubbish, and possibly a dead body, but I kept on, only gagging once. When at last I could see a light at the end, I sped up, scraping my elbows against the rough walls.

I burst out of the alley, taking huge gulps of fresh air. Bile rose in my throat so I shut my eyes and stretched my neck up, covering my mouth with both my hands and trying my damnedest to swallow it back down. The horrible stench from the alley was trapped on my tongue as though I actually licked a carcass from top to bottom.

When the sickness passed, I looked around. There was another alley in front of me that opened into a street and a slightly opened door to my left.

I had to decide fast before I lose Jasper's trail. Taking a gamble, I chose the slightly opened door. Before I entered it, I looked around for a weapon. I hated watching horror movies where these daft cows hide from the big burly killer and not bothering to arm themselves.

What were they going to do when the killer found them? Offer him a blowjob?

The only thing I found on the ground was a piece of rock a little bigger than my palm. It was either that or cigarette butts. Bloody hell. With this kind of weapon, I was no better than the daft cows. Still, it was better than nothing.

Rock in hand, I entered the building. Like the alley, it was dark here too, but at least some light slipped in through the cracks in the black-stained windows. It was a small square room with a door to the right side of the room and a flight of stairs to the left.

When I heard the sharp cracking sound of a gunshot, I paled.

Jasper!

I was breathing hard, my heart pounding so hard I could feel it in my ears. And despite the cold chill in the air, I was sweating. I rushed up the steps, panting, legs and lungs screaming from exertion. A picture of Jasper lying on the ground, blood pooling around him kept me going.

But Jesus. How many more stairs?

My body wasn't really made for a real long-distance marathon unless it was in bed with a fit guy, downing shots or Netflix.

When I saw a steel door at the top of the stairs, I felt ice shoot in the pit of my stomach. Behind that door was Jasper. And the man who tried to kill Liam... and possibly murdered my dad.

Leaning against the wall, I tried to catch my breath, psyching myself to suck it up and open the door. I took one last deep breath for courage and tightened my grip around the rock.

Sunlight blinded me as I slammed the door open, my hand automatically shielding my eyes. I was on the rooftop. I heard a grunt to my right, my eyes widening as I spotted the man in the dark jacket jump over the roof of the next building. He stumbled on his feet, cradling his injured arm protectively against him.

I wasn't aware that I was holding my breath until I released it once I spotted Jasper. Thank God he was alright. But I held it again as he leaped over to the next building, landing on top of the man.

Holy shite!

I raced over, intending to jump after them but froze as I reached the edge. Frustrated, I glared at the impossible distance between the two buildings. There was no way I could jump over unless I started sprouting wings out of my ass.

I whipped my gaze back to both men as they grappled each other on the ground, fists and blood flying in the air. A scream was trapped in my throat as the man kicked Jasper in the chest. Jasper tried to regain his balance again but the man was faster and kicked him again.

"No!" I yelled.

Jasper would have fallen to his death if he hadn't grabbed on to the ledge. He turned at the sound of my voice, his eyes widening in incredulity as he recognized me.

I shouted a warning at Jasper as the man lunged at him and grabbed him in a choke hold.

What the f uck. What the f uck. What the f uck.

I was beside myself, trying to think of a way to help him and then I remembered the rock in my hand.

"You blabbering idiot," I muttered under my breath. I could feel the panic in my voice. "Just throw the damn thing."

Holding my breath, I raised my arm.

What if I hit Jasper? He'd lose his balance and fall to his death.

No, no. Stop being a twat and just do it!

I shut my eyes closed and prayed. My hands were shaking. When I heard Jasper grunt in pain, my eyes flew open. Without waiting another beat, I chucked the rock as powerfully as I could.

It hit the man right in the forehead. He stumbled back at the force and yowled in pain, blood dripping to his eyes.

Jasper finally regained his balance and, with a roar, charged at the man. Blinded from the blood in his eyes, the man reached for something behind him. Horrified, I cried out as he brandished a gun and aimed it at Jasper.

But Jasper was fast. He grabbed the man's wrist and twisted, pointing the gun upward.

A gunshot went off.

Incapacitating sharp pain burst on my side. Incredulous, I touched the part of my body where I felt the pain. My eyes widened in shock as I lifted my hands and found them soaked in blood.

"Jasper..."

Jasper turned toward me as if he heard me call out his name. His eyes filled with horror as he watched me fall to my knees. He grabbed the gun from the man, shooting him between the eyes. In a blur of movement, Jasper aimed the gun in my direction and fired.

I heard a groan and a crash behind me but I was too shocked to look.

"Jasper..." I whispered again.

There was one thought in my mind before I passed out: Death didn't whisper Liam's name in my ear. He whispered mine. 

*

Please don't forget to vote and comment! Love, Isabelle